She slept like the dead. When she woke up it was late afternoon and she was disoriented. How had she gotten to her hotel room? Her head pounded like she'd drank an entire bottle of tequila but she hadn't drank at all.

She remembered talking to Sands on the street and then she had passed out, apparently. She remembered the man that had accosted her but she never got a good look at him. She needed to check to make sure Sands was OK. She sat up in the bed, her head spinning momentarily before she got her bearings and was able to dial his number on her cellphone.

"Hello," he said cheerfully.

"Sands? Are you OK? I guess I passed out or something….I don't know what happened really. I can't remember how I got here but I wanted to make sure nothing happened to you while I was out."

"Yup, you passed out alright, Sugarbutt. I had to carry you back to your room. I guess the shock was too much for you. Are you sure you shouldn't be doing some other job, like selling Avon or something like that? This CIA work can be rather harrowing at times. I'm not altogether sure you're up for it, frankly, after today," he said.

"Yes….I'm up for it!" she said a little too harshly. It made her head hurt some more. "I'm just not used to this hot climate and jetlag and stuff. I'm sure that is all it was. I'll be fine." A sob caught in her throat. She was still quite frightened about what had happened to her that day.

"You don't sound fine," he said. "I'm coming over to check on you." He hung up the phone.

A few minutes later there was a knock on her door. It was Sands. He was dressed in the same brown suit and orange shirt he had on earlier, except now he had a straw hat on and no sunglasses. There were those eyes again, she thought. She could get lost in those eyes. He looked wonderful, she mused, and then forced herself to stop thinking about that. Besides, she needed to think about more important things. She still didn't know why someone had shot at her and attacked her in the street. Apparently now she had to watch her own back as much as his.

"Come in," she said resignedly and sat down on the bed.

He sat down next to her and put his hand to her forehead looking into her eyes.

"You're hot and pale. How do you feel?" He asked concern written on his face.

"Oh, Sands….I'm….I'm…terrified," she admitted and threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder. "I don't know why they sent me here. I'm not qualified. I don't have a clue what I'm doing and I really, really, need your help. Please don't leave me alone again." She cried into his shoulder.

Sands rolled his eyes at her knowing she couldn't see him do it. "There, there. It'll be OK. I'm here." He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. "Do you trust me?" he asked her.

She stared into his beautiful deep brown eyes. "Yes, I…I trust you. You're the only one here I can trust."

His mouth found hers kissing her passionately. He put one hand behind her head holding her in place as he crushed her lips with his. She moaned. "Oh, Sands…no…I…ca..." He kissed her again silencing her.

He pushed her back onto the bed and continued kissing her until she forgot what she was going to say.

Some time later he left her room. She had fallen asleep in his arms. Apparently she was useful for at least one thing, he thought to himself as he tucked in his shirt. Hopefully it would also buy him her loyalty if the need arose. One had to do what one had to do in this business although some of it was more fun than others, he mused, grinning to himself. She wasn't bad looking. In fact, she was stunningly beautiful and had a hot little body on her. Yes, it wouldn't be hard to amuse himself with her and keep her under control. Things were looking up.

He had a five p.m. bullfight to get to and he didn't want to be late. He had hidden his car a couple of blocks away and had made sure he'd lost Ajedrez's tail before going to see Samantha. He walked the short distance to his car and drove to his apartment to change his shirt.

After the bullfight he met with Bellini again, who unfortunately, got himself killed. It annoyed him when he had to lose a good rat. Then he went to meet with Ajedrez. She hadn't really bought his story about Samantha being a lost tourist who needed help finding her way back to her hotel room, but Ajedrez was thawing to him, he could tell. He knew he could trust her to come through for him. After all, they were lovers and she couldn't resist his charms.